Naples – A well-organized criminal scheme to steal European agricultural funds has been dismantled by the Carabinieri of the Naples Provincial Command, in collaboration with the European Delegated Prosecutors' Office.
A large preventive seizure of 1,137 million euros was carried out, ordered by the GIP of the Court of Salerno at the request of the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
The investigation: fraud, corruption and forgeries
The investigation, conducted between 2022 and 2024, brought to light an illicit network consisting of:
14 suspects (out of 41 total) seriously suspected of criminal association, aggravated fraud, corruption and forgery;
Public officials of the Campania Region, accused of having altered the rankings to favor complicit companies;
Agricultural technicians and professionals who allegedly falsified documents to access funding;
A former police officer (now retired) who allegedly misled the investigation and alerted the scammers.
The modus operandi
The group allegedly acted as follows:
Submission of fraudulent applications for EU rural development funds;
Altering of scores in regional rankings thanks to the complicity of officials;
Corruption: promise of percentages on illegally obtained contributions.
The role of the former agent
Particularly serious is the involvement of a former member of the Police Force, who allegedly: monitored the ongoing investigations to warn the group and also provided advice to the scammers on how to evade controls and falsified documents to mislead the authorities.
The EPPO Task Force
The investigations were conducted by the EPPO (European Public Prosecutor's Office) Section of the Carabinieri of Naples, established in 2021 specifically to combat fraud against the EU. The EPPO, based in Luxembourg, is an independent body that fights crimes against European financial interests.
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The article talks about a seizure of European funds, but it doesn't explain how it was possible. I wonder how public officials could have acted without being stopped first. Of course there are many things to clarify in this story.